WHAT WERE POPULAR FORMS OF SPORTS, AMUSEMENT, AND ENTERTAINMENT IN SHAKESPEARE'S ENGLAND? HOW WERE THESE DIFFERENT IN URBAN/RURAL LIFE? HOW WERE THESE DIFFERENT IN NOBLE/MERCHANT/COMMON LIFE?
Answer Prepared by: Amber Baker

There were many different types of sports, amusement, and entertainment in Shakespeare's England. For example, according to FIlling the TIme, by Maggi Ros and Popular Amusements by Kavitha Kareti, tennis was played indoors or in a high-walled outdoor court; the ball is made of leather and stuffed with hair. In one version there are no rackets; you hit the ball with the palm of your hand over a tasseled ripe stretched across the center of the court. Some other sports were bowls, which was lawn bowling, shutterleock that is badminton, archery, hunting and riding, and wrestling. Sports weren't the only form of entertainment. People also were interested in political maneuvering. They attended the theatre and loved music and dance. Couples performed dancing. Morris dance, which included the wearing of bells, was performed as part of the summer festivals. Most of the leisure came after church on Sundays or on the holidays.

Entertainment was in different regions. There was the urban/rural life and the noble/merchant/common life. From Popular Amusements and Entertainment by Kavitha Karreti, in the noble/merchant/common life, jousting was a popular sport that involved running at an opponent with a dance trying to knock him off his horse. Jousting tournaments were held for the rich. Jousting, just like any other sport, was another excuse for showing off their armor. From Elizabethan Entertainment, in the urban/rural life sundown and evenings were spent in talks and games. After church on Sundays they would enjoy a few pints of ale. Men bowled, played skittles or a ball game. Commonly, women worked communally at sewing or spinning whilst. there were many other different board games like Nine Man's Morris, chess or checkers. Although there were many other sports and ways of entertainment in Shakespeare's England, these are the most common.


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